Fiddlers from western Prince County tend to favor faster tempos than their Kings County counterparts, and manifest a more vigorous and far less controlled approach to bowing. They tend to decorate their tunes with suppressed-stroke syncopations  and are somewhat less likely to use drones, graces and cuts than are Kings County players. They generally play more of a “French” repertoire (that is, tunes from francophone Canadian regions). They tend to prefer the two-footed tapping style; many of them hold the fiddle-face at a less extreme angle than their Kings County counterparts (to get at the fourth string, some simply rotate the bass-side of the instrument up to bring it into the path of the bow). See below for an annotated list of West Prince Fiddlers .

Key:

Historical model: fiddler from past generations whose music was preserved only on family tapes or single-pressing discs.

True to Type: sound is relatively typical of the region

"Slow" Fiddler: specializes in playing set tunes and waltzes

Hybrid Style - heavily influenced by external style

Hard to Call: recorded materials are inconclusive

New Wave: developed their playing styles during PEI's fiddling revival

West Prince Fiddlers on This Site (an Annotated List)

Historical Model: Russell Warren

True to Type: Joe Albert, Sidney Baglole, Jackie Biggar, Joseph Doucette, Pat Doucette, Victor Doucette, David Gaudet, Andrew Jones, Jim MacDougall, Dennis Pitre, Fred Richard, Elmer Robinson, Wilfred Silliker

"Slow" Fiddlers: Warren Leard, Harry Lecky, Ervin Rafferty

Hybrid Style: Alton Silliker (substantial “Maritime” influence)

Hard to Call: Leo Farrell (recorded when over 90), Frank O’Connor (not enough material)

New Wave: Keelan Wedge

Mandolin Soloist: Ralph Hardy